Free Expression Blocked at NC State

On November 4, a group of students gathered at North Carolina State University's free expression tunnel to protest against hate speech. The tunnel, which is free for students to paint with messages of their choice, had been painted with a caricature of President Obama and the n-word. In reaction, a number of students blocked all access to the tunnel and painted the entire tunnel black in protest. Their demands? Penalties for anyone who writes "hate speech" in the tunnel, and greater surveillance of the tunnel in order to identify perpetrators.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• NC
• Tunnel

[whoo689]

"The tunnel, which is free for students to paint with messages of their choice"

Yes... UNLESS someone gets offended at what's painted. Lol

[SCE2AUX]

What a joke. "Free expression - unless somebody gets offended by it."

[ashken79]

orwellian nonsense!

[shaeb123]

I don't think they gave enough facts in this clip for people to form a solid opinion about the matter. You can google this story to find out more information.

[reevaluate2008]

@shaeb123 but there is an amendment that protects free speech. Murder is not protected.

[Aurini]

Hate speech like that is awful (using the n word to describ Obama), but what I fail to understand is the school's reaction to it.

Do they think racism is swine flu? That the students are so simple minded, that reading that graffiti will make them prejudiced?

Seeing something like that would drive me to COMBAT racism, to talk about how awful it is, and write my own messages against it. Hiding it does more to help the message - leaving it out in the open allows us all to discredit it.

[mrhulot101]

@shaeb123 You know you can not paint with brown gravy silly, the vegans would find that offensive.and rightly so. The fact that you would suggest such a thing makes me doubt your sincerity

[shaeb123]

@Thorbie I find it very interesting that people are more appalled by the block of the tunnel than by what was written in it. Wow!

[shaeb123]

@reevaluate2008 I understand your point, but that's like saying this is a free country so you should be allowed to go around and chop peoples heads off! The fact is the students understand how it works. And it doesn't work like that. Certain things are off limits.

[shaeb123]

@mrhulot101 what is it about black paint that you find offensive? Would white paint be better? Let me guess, you're allergic to brown gravy as well?